Reasons
to quit

If you’re a smoker, choosing to stop is a decision that will benefit your health. Smoking increases the risk of several types of cancer. It can also lead to heart and lung diseases. If you are coping with a cancer diagnosis, you may find it stressful to give up smoking. However, research has shown that non-smokers have fewer side effects during cancer treatment. If you are ready to stop, giving up smoking will help you feel better and be healthier.

You’ll find that giving up smoking has many benefits:

Health benefits – our doctor can discuss this with you and explain how smoking affects your body.

Financial benefits – giving up smoking could allow you to save up to £2,000 a year.

Physical benefits – our skin will look better.

Benefits to your family – you’ll protect them against the damaging effects of passive smoking.

Reviewed: 31 Mar 2014 Next review: 2016

Heath benefits of giving up smoking

People smoke for a number of reasons. Most smokers do it because they find it relieves stress and helps them relax. Smoking can also be a source of support when things go wrong and can give a feeling of pleasure. These are all reasons why many people continue smoking once they’ve been diagnosed with cancer.

Living with cancer and its treatment can be very difficult, and you may feel you need all the support you can get, including smoking. Nobody can force you to give up – the best reason to stop smoking is because you want to and because you feel ready to.

Sometimes your doctor may advise you on the benefits of stopping smoking in your specific situation or for your type of cancer. Having an understanding of how smoking affects your health may also motivate you to stop. Smoking increases the risk of several types of cancer, including cancers of the lung, mouth, gullet, stomach, pancreas, kidney, bladder and cervix, and some types of leukaemia. It also increases your risk of developing many other health problems, including heart and lung diseases, strokes, circulatory problems, dementia, impotence and infertility.

There’s also some research that shows that smoking can make some types of cancer grow more quickly. This may be because smoking weakens the body’s immunity and some of the chemicals in cigarette smoke may help the tumour to grow.

Non-smokers have fewer side effects from cancer treatment than smokers.

If you’re having treatment for cancer, stopping smoking will help you with this too. It can help the body’s ability to respond to treatment and heal. In general, non-smokers have fewer side effects from cancer treatment, and the side effects they do have tend to be less severe. Stopping smoking may also lower the risk of cancer coming back after treatment.

Physical benefits

Benefits to your family

Smoking doesn’t only harm your own health. People around you, who are exposed to second-hand smoke (called passive smoking), are also at a higher risk of getting smoking-related diseases.

Children whose parents smoke are more likely to start smoking themselves. If you have children or grandchildren, you can become a good role model for them by quitting. Also, children of parents who smoke often worry about their parents’ health, so by giving up you’ll be putting your children’s minds at rest.

Featured group

This group is for cancer survivors and people who have finished treatment. It is a space to discuss things like the physical and emotional after effects of cancer, returning to work, or trying to move on with your life.

Thanks

We rely on a number of sources to gather evidence for our information. If you’d like further information on the sources we use, please feel free to contact us on: bookletfeedback@macmillan.org.uk

All our information is reviewed by cancer or other relevant professionals to ensure that it’s accurate and reflects the best evidence available. We thank all those people who have provided expert review for the information on this page.

Our information is also reviewed by people affected by cancer to ensure it is as relevant and accessible as possible. Thank you to all those people who reviewed what you're reading and have helped our information to develop.

You could help us too when you join our Cancer Voices Network – find out more at: http://www.macmillan.org.uk/cancervoices

We make every effort to ensure that the information we provide is accurate and up-to-date but it should not be relied upon as a substitute for specialist professional advice tailored to your situation. So far as is permitted by law, Macmillan does not accept liability in relation to the use of any information contained in this publication or third party information or websites included or referred to in it.